There is an oft-quoted statistic that the words you say make up just seven percent of successful communication skills. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t think about them carefully. Here are three quick tips: The art of listening The first key to communicating well is to learn the art of listening. This is really the […]

“For a business leader, building reputation and trust IS the day job, which makes communications the day job too.” That quote is by the former head of Marks and Spencer, Stuart Rose, who knows a thing or two about the importance of good communication skills to protect and enhancing your reputation. It is vital for […]

If you are a senior leader, or CEO, the way in which you communicate can make the difference between shared vision or a fractured vision, a happy team and a discontented team, and an enviable reputation and a question mark. It is an integral part of your role to communicate effectively. This week I gave a […]

Several of our recent blogs have focused on the importance of your voice during radio interviews, but it’s not just when talking to the media that it is important to use your voice well. Here our presentation skills expert Sue Carruthers lets us into the secret of the six Ps of performance – and how […]

The ability to communicate well is vital in all spheres of life – and for those in business, the way you communicate can be the difference between success and failure. In this, the first of a series of occasional blogs by our presentation and communications trainer, Sue Carruthers, she gives the inside track on how to […]

How many presentations can you remember? Why do they stand out? Is it for the right reasons? I particularly remember Al Gore giving his ‘Inconvenient Truth’ presentation live to a group of media folk – chiefly because his very American barnstorming style didn’t seem to be pitched right for that particular audience. Here our communications expert Sue Carruthers […]

Every day on Twitter, we post a PR tip. This can be about media interviews, media strategy, PR or video making – or indeed anything we feel may be useful and is media related. This week, our tips focussed on presentation skills. If you’re giving a presentation, aim to make eye contact with each […]

Ron Aldridge is a successful theatre director, writer and actor who uses his experience on the stage to help people to become ‘complete’ performers, whether speaking in public, presenting, or selling — at conferences, in the workplace and in the boardroom. In this guest post he lets us into some theatrical secrets to improve your presentation […]

One of the services Rough House provides is presentation training and last week I attended a session run by one of presentation trainers, Sue Carruthers. One of the areas she covered was how to handle questions and it struck me that the techniques for dealing with them are remarkably similar during presentations and in media interviews. […]